Stevie Nicks has shared her regrets about waiting until she was 70 to vote for the first time.
The 76-year-old singer spoke candidly about the importance of voting in the 2024 US presidential election during an appearance on MSNBC’s Morning Joe on Tuesday (October 30). After urging viewers to “vote no matter what” in this year’s election, she confessed that she didn’t vote for the first time until six years ago – and she wishes she’d done it sooner.
“I never voted until I was 70, but now I regret that,” she said. “And I’ve told everybody that on stage for the last two years. I regret that, and I don’t have very many regrets.”
The Fleetwood Mac artist then criticized how Americans could come up with “so many reasons” why they didn’t vote.
“You can say, ‘Oh, I didn’t have time. I was, you know, this and that,’” she continued. “In the long run, you didn’t have an hour? You didn’t have an hour of your time that you could have gone and voted?”
MSNBC broadcaster Mika Brzezinski chimed in: “If you’re going to vote in an election, let it be this one.”
Nicks agreed: “Let it be this one.”
The “Landslide” singer – who recently endorsed Democratic nominee Kamala Harris in an interview with Rolling Stone – then shared why she wanted to speak out about this year’s election.
“We have to find a way to bring back Roe v Wade,” she said. The vice president has backed legislation that would protect reproductive rights across the US, much like the Supreme Court ruling did before it was overturned in 2022.
Nicks also detailed how fellow musicians can use their platforms to speak out about the election.
“In the end of the Fifties and Sixties and going into the Seventies, everyone was writing protest songs. Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Joni Mitchell, Stephen Stills, it was lots and lots and lots. I would say to all my musical poets that write songs to write some songs about what’s happening, like I did,” she added, referring to her 2024 single “The Lighthouse,” which is about the fight for women’s reproductive rights.
Nicks opened up about the meaning of the song, and how it was inspired by women who’ve inspired her, calling them “the lighthouse.”
“Whoever wins [the election], the lighthouse needs to keep shining its light and also keep those ships from crashing into the rocks,” she said. “And that’s my idea of the lighthouse being a protector, protecting all those boats and ships that are coming in.”
Leading up to the election, Nicks has continued to urge her fans to vote. In September, shortly after Taylor Swift endorsed Harris, the “Silver Springs” singer shared a picture on Instagram of herself hugging her dog.
“As my friend @taylorswift so eloquently stated, now is the time to research and choose the candidate that speaks to you and your beliefs. Only 54 days left until the election. Make sure you are registered to vote! Your vote in this election may be one of the most important things you ever do,” Nicks wrote, signing her message “Childless Dog Lady” – an apparent dig at Republican nominee Donald Trump’s running mate JD Vance.
Speaking to Rolling Stone, Nicks officially endorsed Harris by calling the vice president “the lighthouse.”
“I think I’m totally endorsing her by naming her as a lighthouse. I don’t like the word ‘endorsing,’ but what I like is the fact that she is our great hope to save the world,” she said in the interview published October 24.
The “Dreams” singer also said that she thought Harris was “doing great” as a candidate in the election, before mocking Trump.
“If [Trump] loses, he’s just going to get in his limo and go back to Mar-a-Lago and probably get another TV show, and have lots of great vacations and play a lot of golf,” she added. “He’s just going to have fun. Good god, he’s 78. It’s the opposite to ‘Girls Just Want to Have Fun.’ Nobody has to worry about him. He’s just going to go do what he does.”
